What would life be without emotions x

1^st May 2013

Nourishment is not limited to food alone. It includes all the ways we feed the many needs we have. Marc David

A mixed day yesterday full  of sadness and joy, my moms still not 100% which obviously worries me a little because I don’t like to see her poorly, nor scared – it’s the fear in her that bothers me the most as I can see she’s worried that something’s going to happen.  I’m not a natural worrier as I believe it’s a wasted emotion, it’s a bit like a wooden rocking horse, it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere so I try not to let worry fill my head.  I also had a call from my dear friend who starts her chemo today, she’s a very special lady who has helped me in my meetings now for a good few years and makes me laugh every week, I will miss having the banter with her whilst she’s off having treatment but I look forward to getting her back as soon as she is well. 

The joy was getting three of my members to their goal, one having lost 54lb, another 13.5lb and the third 86.5lb, that’s eleven stone between them, absolutely amazing!  Now two of them have struggled with that last bit and could have so easily given in but they didn’t, they kept going, one even went on a hen weekend last weekend and there must be something in the water over there because it made the difference and she got to goal.  It’s absolutely amazing when a member gets to goal whether they’ve lost 7lb or 70lb because every ounce counts, it’s lovely to watch people change and get healthier and happier and it’s lovely to see peoples confidence grow too.  Don’t get me wrong I have members who were happy and confident when they joined so weight loss doesn’t change them in that respect but for some it does and it makes a huge difference.

And I finished my day laughing at my brother, he’d came round to sit with my mom whilst I went to work and I left him with fence paint and a brush – might as well make himself useful.  When I returned he proudly told me he’d done a bit of gardening too, which included cutting my dead shrub down!  I looked and laughed as he’d cut my rosemary plant right down to the stump, the one I remember cutting a few bits off last month, but apparently it was dead, I think it may have been dormant but it’s definitely dead now because it’s in my wheelie bin ‘-)  I did giggle because he didn’t do it on purpose, he was trying to be helpful and it’s nothing that can’t be replaced.

My diet was okayish yesterday, food wise was fab except for those damn Krackerwheat of which I ate 8pp worth, there’s only 2 left in the tin now, I’ve worked out that there was 25pp in the packet and I won’t be buying anymore for a while, 1pp a biscuit ouch, just not worth it.  I had the fruit with my meusli for breakfast and it did fill me up I have to say, lunch was a ready meal, The Co-op Wild Pacific pink salmon and Pollock gratin, I can’t remember if I blogged about this meal the other week when we had it as I realise not everyone is on my Facebook WW page, I always post everything on there but not necessarily on here.  Anyway it’s 11pp for half and it’s divine, really large portion for a ready meal and great served with a bit of extra veg, plus it’s in their £10 meal deal at the moment, so I will have the ciabatta side with something else and mom eats the puddings, oh yeah not forgetting the white wine which isn’t bad at all ;-)

Tea was my savoury bread pudding recipe which I adapted a little as I hadn’t got a tin of chopped tomatoes – what is going on in my cupboards, I’ve took this ‘frugal’ too far!  So instead I used fresh tomatoes and pasata, I used stale granary bread instead of the low calorie stuff and I threw in a bit of chorizo, so it took the ProPoints up slightly, but it was still only 11pp a portion.  Here’s the usual recipe;

Cheese and tomato bread pudding
This is a wonderful way to use up leftover bread and it's a cheap and filling family meal.

Serves 4 | Takes 10 minutes to prepare, 35 minutes to cook
F&H day = uses 3pp of yr 49 weeklies, PP day = 8pp

low fat cooking spray
400 g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
100 g (3½oz) mature cheese, grated (11pp)

4 eggs (7pp)
400 ml (14 fl oz) skimmed milk (4pp)
150 g (5½oz) Weight Watchers calorie controlled bread (preferably stale) (9pp)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/fan oven 160°C. Lightly spray an ovenproof dish with the
cooking spray.  Mix the tomatoes with half of the thyme, then spoon half of the tomatoes into the base of the dish
and scatter with about a quarter of the cheese.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs with milk and seasoning. Dip the slices of bread in the eggy mixture, letting them soak in it briefly. Arrange the bread slices on top of the tomatoes and cheese,overlapping slightly.   Spoon on the rest of the tomatoes and scatter with the remaining cheese and thyme. Pour the remaining egg mixture all over the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil. Bake for a further 15 minutes until the mixture is puffed up and golden brown on top.

 

There are lots of recipe ideas on my website http://www.happyowls.co.uk/recipes.html some sheets to download too.

If you’re doing the math in your head, you will realise I was over my ProPoints especially as I had a couple of glasses of wine because it really was a difficult day for so many reasons and the joy just nor the 10pp activity ProPoints earned just didn’t totally balance it out.  Hey ho, today’s another day and it looks like the suns gonna shine again, the first of the month which sounds like a brilliant day to get back or stay on track – what do you reckon?

Have a fabulous day, be gentle on yourself, do your best and be kind because everyone is going through their own stuff and as a beautiful lady said to me last week no one really knows what’s going on behind closed doors – so true and that beautiful ladies mother would be so proud of her if she was still with us. Xx